Apple's Shazam Acquisition Set to Gain European Approval

European Commission antitrust regulators are set to approve Apple's acquisition of music discovery service Shazam with no conditions, reports Reuters.

Apple announced its planned acquisition of Shazam in December, but the deal has yet to be completed due to an ongoing EU investigation.

shazam iphone x
Regulators were worried that the merger between the two companies would provide Apple with a wealth of data that could allow it to target its competitors' customers, ultimately resulting in fewer music streaming options for European citizens.

There were also concerns that Apple would disallow Shazam from referring EU customers to Shazam's rivals, such as Spotify. At the current time, Shazam can be connected to either Apple Music or Spotify, allowing Shazamed songs to be opened in either service.

While European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso declined to comment at this time, a final decision on the acquisition is expected on September 18. Once approved, Apple will be able to finalize the deal and complete the Shazam purchase.

Shazam, for those unfamiliar with the service, is a cross-platform app designed to identify music, TV shows, and more. It has been baked into Apple devices as part of Siri for several years now, and it's what powers Siri's ability to answer questions like "What song is this?" Shazam also offers apps for iOS devices, Android devices, Macs, and PCs.

When announcing the acquisition of Shazam, Apple said that it had "exciting plans in store," but declined to provide further information on how the Shazam service would be used.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.1 With Apple Intelligence: New Features, Release Date, and More

Thursday October 10, 2024 8:26 am PDT by
iOS 18.1 will be released to the public in the coming weeks, and the software update introduces the first Apple Intelligence features for the iPhone. Below, we outline when to expect iOS 18.1 to be released. iOS 18.1: Apple Intelligence Features Here are some of the key Apple Intelligence features in the iOS 18.1 beta so far: A few Siri enhancements, including improved understanding...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Tuesday October 8, 2024 5:45 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
space black mbp

Apple Potentially Facing Worst Leak Since iPhone 4 Was Left in a Bar

Monday October 7, 2024 3:03 pm PDT by
Alleged photos and videos of an unannounced 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 chip continue to surface on social media, in what could be the worst product leak for Apple since an employee accidentally left an iPhone 4 prototype at a bar in California in 2010. The latest video of what could be a next-generation MacBook Pro was shared on YouTube Shorts today by Russian channel Romancev768, just...
iPad mini review thumb

iPad Mini 7 Coming Next Month: What to Expect

Tuesday October 8, 2024 6:16 am PDT by
Rumors strongly suggest Apple will release the seventh-generation iPad mini in November, nearly three years after the last refresh. Here's a roundup of what we're expecting from the next version of Apple's small form factor tablet, based on the latest rumors and reports. Design and Display The new iPad mini is likely to retain its compact 8.3-inch display and overall design introduced with...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

Waiting for a New Apple TV? Here's What the Latest Rumors Say

Tuesday October 8, 2024 8:57 am PDT by
The current Apple TV was released two years ago this month, so you may be wondering when the next model will be released. Below, we recap rumors about a next-generation Apple TV. In January 2023, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that a new Apple TV was planned for release in the first half of 2024:Beyond the future smart displays and new speaker, Apple is working on revamping its TV box....
When Will Apple Launch More M4 Macs Feature

Will Apple Release M4 Macs Soon? Here's What the Latest Rumors Say

Thursday October 10, 2024 6:22 am PDT by
Apple often releases new Macs in the fall, but we are still waiting for official confirmation that the company has similar plans this year. We're approaching the middle of October now, and if Apple plans to announce new Macs before the holidays, recent history suggests it will happen this month. Here's what we know so far. As of writing this, it's been 220 days since Apple released a new...

Top Rated Comments

MacFan23 Avatar
80 months ago
Yet another company Apple buys that won't actually be used to improve their software.
Just going through the last 5/6 years of Apple acquisitions, it looks like they do tend to actually use them to improve their software.

InVisage Technologies - Face ID
Faceshift - Face ID
PrimeSense - Face ID
Perceptio - Face ID/Photos
init.ai - Business Chat
Workflow - Shortcuts
Gliimpse - Health tracking/ResearchKit
VocalIQ - Siri
Mapsense - Maps
Coherent Navigation - Maps
Embark - Maps
LinX - Camera
Beats Electronics - Apple Music
Swell - Apple Music
Chomp - App Store
AuthenTec - Touch ID
LearnSprout - Apple education apps

Not including the AI, Security, ML and AR acquisitions.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lunarworks Avatar
80 months ago
If this leads to a dedicated Shazam button in the Control Center I will be very happy.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
80 months ago
Yet another company Apple buys that won't actually be used to improve their software.
You mean like how they acquired the Workflow app and have now turned it into the Shortcuts app, a key part of allowing people to leverage much more powerful commands and workflows with Siri in iOS 12?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
80 months ago
If this leads to a dedicated Shazam button in the Control Center I will be very happy.
You can simply ask Siri who is playing also. That's most likely where we'll see the integration. I doubt we'll see a dedicated button for it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lunarworks Avatar
80 months ago
You can simply ask Siri who is playing also. That's most likely where we'll see the integration. I doubt we'll see a dedicated button for it.
Asking Siri just adds a few seconds to the process when seconds actually count. It's frustrating having Shazam kick-in just as a song ends.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alpi123 Avatar
80 months ago
Still no idea why Apple didn't grab SoundHound instead, much better app, and recognizes more things than Shazam ever did for me.
Just downloaded and tried it - it's very slow compared to Shazam. Plus, for the songs I tried, I didn't see the album artworks - just the singer and the song name. Maybe I have to give it some time but I don't plan on replacing Shazam.

Can SoundHound record the music while offline and search for it when you connect to a network?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)